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FAQ. 

Compared with pure electric vehicles, hybrid cars, LNG, CNG on the market, where is the advantage of MDI's compressed air? Is there any data proof? 

The best way to assess the advantages of MDI products is to consider the disadvantages of alternatives. The world is well aware of the disadvantages of chemical battery electric vehicles. They are expensive, and replacement batteries are expensive. They are heavy weight, using predominantly traditional manufacture processes. That process is not overly clean, and neither is battery disposal. It is time consuming and inconvenient to recharge them, and they discharge relatively quickly on long trips. Current hybrid vehicles on the other hand tend to be neither full electric nor full internal combustion, so they have inefficiencies from both technologies. 

MDI compressed air vehicles do not have these problems. Firstly the engines run on compressed air, and are cleaner in the overall manufacture, their running, and the disposal process. They are much lighter due to no battery weight and lightweight composite construction, with use of composite materials. They can be filled with compressed air in 2 minutes from a specialised compressed air filling station. Whereas conventional batteries require replacement at the end of their relatively short life, the carbon fibre compressed air cylinders as used by MDI are rated at 20,000 cycles, which at 1 cycle per day is over 50 years. The cylinders only require a pressure test check each 5 years. Batteries have environmental issues when disposing at the end of their life. MDI products have no polluting issues. Air is abundant, whereas chemical battery elements need mining.

Service requirements are far lower than for vehicles with internal combustion engines. MDI’s approach to hybrid is completely different. Instead of two separate systems as with current electric hybrid vehicles; (semi colon) in the MDI hybrid it has no internal combustion and simply heats temperature external combustion. A low temperature burner heats the air tripling the capacity. That burner can use any form of fuel, including bio, and the overall system is very efficient and affordable. Currently it is envisaged the MDI compressed air battery vehicles will have a niche of the market to themselves, due to affordability and convenience.  Re the various fuel forms in the question, most countries are very keen to minimise pollution, and any form of fossil fuel combustion is non-ideal. MDI compressed air solutions are competitive against all the various fossil fuel combustion and electric vehicle alternatives – both in cost and in running, And cleaner. 

The proofs are both in the vehicles that MDI manufactures and the partnerships with Tata, Veolia, KLM, etc. MDI has performed comparative analysis demonstrating the advantages of the MDI manufacturing model.

What is energy consumption?

For the small entry-level vehicle the AirPod is the smallest vehicle coming in standard and commercial models. The standard model running on only compressed air travels to 100 km in the urban cycle. It would require approximately 11 kWh of electricity to compress the air required. There is a second mode of operation mentioned above with the external burner heating the compressed air going into the engine; this boosts its range to triple that of compressed air only. In this mode the energy cost for 100 km will be approximately 4 kWh of electricity and 0.5 litres of fuel. The AirPod, which is classified as a quadricycle, L7e has a top speed of 80 km/h.

Later models are being finalised. The Air One and Air City are larger heavier vehicles, holding up to 5 passengers. The fuel consumption of these vehicles hasn't been published. The planned top speeds for the Air One and Air City are anticipated at 100 km/h and 130 km/h.

WHAT COUNTRIES HAVE STARTED TO USE MDI at present? Is the technology mature enough for mass production?

In Italy, the company AIR MOBILITY has obtained the AirPod licenses for the areas of Sardinia and Tuscany. In the case of Sardinia, the factory was designed to address the island market requirements whilst remaining faithful to the MDI industrial concept.

In Australasia, Air Future 2024 Ltd has undertaken proactive support to MDI and will be one of the first companies worldwide to establish manufacturing of the MDI products word wide.

What is the working capital (Include Factory set up, the land requirement, machines cost and operating funds etc.)?

The question would need further detail, as factories come in different options re their capacity, the product, and the region. The factory building requires approximately 5,000 square metres and a land area of 15,000 square meters. The working capital and installation costs need to be determined locally. Operating capital to cover material stocks and labour will depend on level of operation of factory and local conditions.

In both our Australasian environment and in Europe calculations for the factories operating at full production and sales show they are very profitable, and break even at around 400 vehicles per year.